The introduction of knowledge management may be initiated at the
highest level, for example, the organization’s chief executive officer or it may
be an initiative of the human resources department or the IT department.
Regardless of where the initiative comes from, the organization is more likely
to be ready to get started in knowledge management when one or more of
the following situations are present: (a) knowledge management has emerged
as a topic of interest; (b) at least a few employees have explored the benefits of
KM for the organization; (c) someone has had a personal stake in developing
interest in KM; (d) some members of the organization have learned about KM
through participation in consortia or conferences; (e) the organization has
created a high-level rationale or vision for pursuing KM